John J. Lloyd (June 30, 1922 – September 20, 2014) was an American art director and

production designer In film and television, the production designer is the individual responsible for the overall aesthetic of the story. The production design gives the viewers a sense of the time period, the plot location, and character actions and feelings. Wo ...

known for his work on such films as ''

National Lampoon's Animal House ''National Lampoon's Animal House'' is a 1978 American comedy film directed by John Landis and written by Harold Ramis, Douglas Kenney and Chris Miller. It stars John Belushi, Peter Riegert, Tim Matheson, John Vernon, Verna Bloom, Thomas Hu ...

'', ''

The Blues Brothers The Blues Brothers are an American blues and soul revivalist band founded in 1978 by comedians Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi as part of a musical sketch on ''Saturday Night Live''. Belushi and Aykroyd fronted the band, in character, respecti ...

'', '' The Thing'', ''

Big Trouble in Little China ''Big Trouble in Little China'' (also in known as ''John Carpenter's Big Trouble in Little China'') is a 1986 American fantasy action comedy film directed by John Carpenter and starring Kurt Russell, Kim Cattrall, Dennis Dun and James Hong ...

'', and '' The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!'' His death at the age of 92 was announced in October 2014.

Early life

He was born in Dearborn, Michigan in 1922 but moved with his family to

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

in the mid-1920s. They first settled in

Ramona ''Ramona'' is a 1884 American novel written by Helen Hunt Jackson. Set in Southern California after the Mexican–American War, it portrays the life of a mixed-race Scottish– Native American orphan girl, who suffers racial discrimination and ...

, where Lloyd assisted his parents in operating a local mercantile store and a

turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...

ranch A ranch (from es, rancho/Mexican Spanish) is an area of land, including various structures, given primarily to ranching, the practice of raising grazing livestock such as cattle and sheep. It is a subtype of a farm. These terms are most ofte ...

. Lloyd and his family later moved to Culver City, where his father and uncle found jobs at

MGM Studios Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 a ...

. Lloyd served in the

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage o ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. He was stationed at

Norman, Oklahoma Norman () is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Oklahoma, with a population of 128,097 as of 2021. It is the largest city and the county seat of Cleveland County, and the second-largest city in the Oklahoma City metropolitan area, b ...

, where he instructed airmen on aircraft flight mechanics and

aerodynamics Aerodynamics, from grc, ἀήρ ''aero'' (air) + grc, δυναμική (dynamics), is the study of the motion of air, particularly when affected by a solid object, such as an airplane wing. It involves topics covered in the field of fluid dy ...

— skills he himself learned while washing airplanes at an airfield in Culver City. After the war, Lloyd attended and graduated from

Chouinard Art Institute The Chouinard Art Institute was a professional art school founded in 1921 by Nelbert Murphy Chouinard (1879–1969) in the Westlake neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. In 1961, Walt and Roy Disney guided the merger of the Chouinard Art I ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

Career

Lloyd began his career in the 1950s as an art director at

Lew Wasserman Lewis Robert Wasserman (March 22, 1913 – June 3, 2002) was an American talent agent and studio executive, described as "the last of the legendary movie moguls" and "arguably the most powerful and influential Hollywood titan in the four decades ...

's Revue Studios (later

Universal Television Universal Television LLC (abbreviated as UTV) is an American television production company that is a subsidiary of Universal Studio Group, a division of Comcast's NBCUniversal. It serves as the network television production arm of NBC; a prede ...

), where he worked on television shows including '' Studio 57'', '' Leave It to Beaver'', ''

The Jack Benny Program ''The Jack Benny Program'', starring Jack Benny, is a radio-TV comedy series that ran for more than three decades and is generally regarded as a high-water mark in 20th century American comedy. He played one role throughout his radio and televis ...

'', and 137 episodes of '' Alfred Hitchcock Presents''. He was one of the original art directors on ''

The Munsters ''The Munsters'' is an American sitcom depicting the home life of a family of benign monsters. The series starred Fred Gwynne as Frankenstein's monsterEpisodes referring to the fact that Herman is Frankenstein's monster include #55, "Just Anoth ...

'', where he developed the rising staircase seen in the

title sequence A title sequence (also called an opening sequence or intro) is the method by which films or television programmes present their title and key production and cast members, utilizing conceptual visuals and sound (often a opening theme song with vi ...

s of the show's first season. He also established the look for several pilots that were picked up to series, including '' Columbo'', ''

Emergency! ''Emergency!'' is an American action-adventure medical drama television series jointly produced by Mark VII Limited and Universal Television. Debuting on NBC as a midseason replacement on January 15, 1972, replacing the two short-lived situa ...

'', and ''

Kojak ''Kojak'' is an American action crime drama television series starring Telly Savalas as the title character, New York City Police Department Detective Lieutenant Theodopolis "Theo" Kojak. Taking the time slot of the popular ''Cannon'' series, ...

''. He was nominated for an Emmy Award for his work on ''

General Electric Theater ''General Electric Theater'' was an American anthology series hosted by Ronald Reagan that was broadcast on CBS radio and television. The series was sponsored by General Electric's Department of Public Relations. Radio After an audition show ...

'' in 1957 and again for ''Alfred Hitchcock Presents'' in 1960. He won an Emmy in 1961 for Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction and Scenic Design on the detective series '' Checkmate'' and went on to be nominated again for the 1971 two-part movie ''Vanished'' and as production designer of the 1977 TV movie ''

It Happened One Christmas ''It Happened One Christmas'' is a 1977 American made-for-television Christmas fantasy- comedy-drama film directed by Donald Wrye, starring Marlo Thomas, Wayne Rogers, Orson Welles, and Cloris Leachman. It originally premiered as ''The ABC Sunda ...

''. He moved into feature films in the late 1960s, starting with the art direction of the 1966 release '' Munster, Go Home!'' His subsequent film credits as art director include '' Colossus: The Forbin Project'', ''

The Day of the Locust ''The Day of the Locust'' is a 1939 novel by American author Nathanael West set in Hollywood, California. The novel follows a young artist from the Yale School of Fine Arts named Tod Hackett, who has been hired by a Hollywood studio to do scene ...

'' and ''

Animal House ''National Lampoon's Animal House'' is a 1978 American comedy film directed by John Landis and written by Harold Ramis, Douglas Kenney and Chris Miller. It stars John Belushi, Peter Riegert, Tim Matheson, John Vernon, Verna Bloom, Thomas Hu ...

''. His first film as production designer was 1977's '' MacArthur''. After working with Lloyd on ''Animal House'', director

John Landis John David Landis (born August 3, 1950) is an American comedy and fantasy filmmaker and actor. He is best known for the comedy films that he has directed – such as ''The Kentucky Fried Movie'' (1977), ''National Lampoon's Animal House'' (1978 ...

recruited him as production designer on Landis' 1980 hit, ''

''. Lloyd and Landis collaborated for a third and final time on the 1985 release '' Into the Night''. Lloyd also served as production designer on two films for

John Carpenter John Howard Carpenter (born January 16, 1948) is an American filmmaker, actor, and composer. Although he worked in various film genres, he is most commonly associated with horror, action, and science fiction films of the 1970s and 1980s. He ...

: '' The Thing'' and ''

''. Lloyd subsequently designed such productions as '' Jaws: The Revenge'' and the first two films in the ''

Naked Gun Nudity is the state of being in which a human is without clothing. The loss of body hair was one of the physical characteristics that marked the biological evolution of modern humans from their hominin ancestors. Adaptations related to ...

'' series, '' The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!'' and '' The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear''.

Death

Lloyd died of

congestive heart failure Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome, a group of signs and symptoms caused by an impairment of the heart's blood pumping function. Symptoms typically include shortness of breath, excessive fatigue, ...

at his home in

Woodland Hills, Los Angeles Woodland Hills is a neighborhood bordering the Santa Monica Mountains in the San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California. Geography Woodland Hills is in the southwestern region of the San Fernando Valley, which is located east of Ca ...

, California, on September 20, 2014. He was 92. He is survived by a son, two daughters and two grandchildren.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lloyd, John J. 1922 births American art directors American production designers Primetime Emmy Award winners 2014 deaths Artists from Detroit Chouinard Art Institute alumni People from Dearborn, Michigan People from Ramona, San Diego County, California People from Culver City, California United States Navy personnel of World War II